


Never a Second Glance

by Feneris



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Armin is responsible for everything, Community: snkkink, F/M, Gen, Giants, History, Mastermind Armin, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-05
Updated: 2014-02-19
Packaged: 2018-01-11 07:36:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1170406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Feneris/pseuds/Feneris
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was a dubious distinction, but Lady Annie Leonheart was one of the few people still alive who could say she had known the enigmatic Lord Arlert before the rise of High King Jeager.</p><p>In truth, like many such meetings, it had been completely inconsequential at the time, and had things turned out differently, she might have forgotten it completely.</p><p>At the time, Armin Arlert was nothing more than the only son of a pair of booksellers in the small backwater kingdom of Shiganshina. By no means a person someone of her stature would be accustomed to meeting.</p><p>Bright, friendly, and generally likeable, if not a bit weak in the arms, Armin was utter insignificant to her, and by and large was largely forgotten when the negotiations fell flat and her diplomatic party returned home.</p><p>If she had known at the time what that simple bookseller's son would have become. It is doubtless she would have so casually dismissed him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So the prompt called for an evil Armin masterminding everything from behind the scenes. The main challenge come from the fact that if Armin is actually successfully manipulating everything from behind the scenes, it shouldn't be apparent he's actually doing anything. 
> 
> I think I've managed to make my way through that little hurdle, but it still came across more like an ancient history then I want intending. Either way I do hope you enjoy.

It was a dubious distinction, but Lady Annie Leonheart was one of the few people still alive who could say she had known the enigmatic Lord Arlert before the rise of High King Jeager.

In truth, like many such meetings, it had been completely inconsequential at the time, and had things turned out differently, she might have forgotten it completely.

At the time, Armin Arlert was nothing more than the only son of a pair of booksellers in the small backwater kingdom of Shiganshina. By no means a person someone of her stature would be accustomed to meeting.

In fact, the only reason she had been in such a small and politically unimportant kingdom as Shiganshina, was because she had been part of a diplomatic party sent to the kingdom to negotiate the marriage of one of her cousins to Shiganshina's Crown Prince. And the only reason she so much as laid eyes on Armin, was because he was friends to the only son of Shiganshina's Royal Physician. (A boy who had heard of her family's reputation as skilled warriors, and who constantly challenged her to fights in the hope that he might pick up something from her.)

Bright, friendly, and generally likeable, if not a bit weak in the arms, Armin was utter insignificant to her, and by and large was largely forgotten when the negotiations fell flat and her diplomatic party returned home.

If she had known at the time what that simple bookseller's son would have become. It is doubtless she would have so casually dismissed him.

\---

The fall of Shiganshina came without warning the following year. The mountain giants, normally content to live simple lives on the mountainsides (barring the odd burned hamlet, or the occasional devoured traveler), suddenly swarmed out of the hills and laid waste to the entire kingdom, pillaging its royal capital, and plundering the countryside.

Before the week was up, they were raiding with impunity across the entire length of the Maria Valley. The roads and rivers were soon choked with refugees fleeing to the relative safety of the Rose Freeholds. To everyone's increasing misfortune, that year saw one of the worse famines in history, and soon the giants were soon testing the defenses of the Freehold's border kingdoms. Anarchy reigned across the region.

But to the Leonheart's distant and powerful empire, such events were beyond the scope of their concern. Their kingdom, along with the kingdoms of their immediate neighbors, was prosperous and safe. To those mighty Southern Kingdoms, their greatest concern was negotiating with the distant Kingdoms from beyond the deserts on spice tariffs. More to the point, the mountain giants were ancient and loyal allies of the Southern Kingdoms. So when the emissaries came begging for aid against the giants, they were at best humored and at worst, turned away outright.

It was then that the stories had begun filtering down to the South, that a doctor's son had raised the old banner of Shiganshina and had vowed to kill every last giant in the Rose Freeholds and the Maria Valley.

\---

At first the rumors of Eren Jeager's uprising were treated as nothing more than a particularly fanciful tale by the kings and queens of the south. Even in the north, most folks dismissed Jeager's small band of armed militiamen as at best merely over-idealistic fools and bandits at worst.

Then word started to circulate that Jeager had made an alliance with the horse-nomads of the western steppes. The horse-nomads were ancient enemies of the scattered kingdoms, principalities, and duchies that made up the Rose Freeholds. Many feared that Jeager had naively opened the doors to a nomad invasion, and that soon it would be nomads plundering their lands alongside the giants.

The Duchy of Stohess, home to the largest concentration of Jeagermen (as Jeager's militia had taken to calling themselves.) reacted first. Duke Riess immediately declared Eren Jeager an enemy of the Duchy and ordered every one of Jeager's militia expelled from the land.

Needless to say Jeager was outraged, and at a single signal, the horse-nomads poured out of the steppes and engaged Duke Riess's army. The Jeagermen took up their arms, and began launching coordinated raids against the Duke's supply depots and courier stations, effectively sabotaging the Stohess's ability to effectively counter the invading nomads. Within a month, the nomads had surrounded the capital. One week later, the gates of the city fell, and the Nomads stormed the city. (One of their Khans would later became famous when she single-handily stormed the city's castle and carried off Duke Riess's daughter, the Lady Historia.)

However, instead of continuing on to invade the other holds, the nomads instead linked up with the Jeagermen began working with them to secure the district. A week later, Eren Jeager had himself crowned as the new Duke of Stohess, and made an official declaration of his intent to drive the giants from both the Rose Freeholds and the Maria Valley.

While many of the nobles were outraged at this apparent usurping of noble privilege by a mere doctors son, it did not stop them from sending their emissaries to attend Duke Jeager's coronation. Everyone took note of the new Duke, already earning a reputation of fearlessness, and how he seemed to radiate with righteous rage. Everyone noted the exotic features of the woman at his side, remarked on the rumors of her unparallelled prowess in battle, and argued over whether she was his step-sister, wife, or consort. Everyone watched the assembled Khans with unease, unsure if they were merely waiting for the right moment to break their alliance and turn their sights on the rest of the Freeholds. A few would even remark on how beautiful Lady Historia was, and how she looked unusually happy for someone who had just been carried off by a nomad warrior.

Few however would take any note at the blonde boy standing at the new Duke's side, and how the new Duke seemed to listen very carefully to everything he said.


	2. Chapter 2

To everyone's surprise, the new Duke of Stohess settled into power with surprising smoothness. The various barons and counts of the duchy, by and large, accepted Duke Jeager with only a slight grumble. Those that openly, or secretly, defied the new Duke were either killed in their beds by Duke Jeager's deadly right hand, Lady Mikasa Ackerman, or they were violently put down by his nomad allies.

In a few weeks, it was if the Jeagers had always been Dukes. Whispers started in the courts of the Freeholds, speaking of secret deals with the lesser nobility of Stohess to overthrow Duke Riess and raise Eren Jeager in his place. These rumors, along with the added unease over the gathered Khans in Stohess, not to mention Duke Jeager's call for a unified front against the giants, all spread the seeds of paranoia in the minds of the neighboring holds. Toss in the usual mix of old eminity, expansionist dreams, and plain warmongering. It was inevitable that someone was going to attack, despite the constant threat of the giants.

\---

When the attack did happen it came from the King of Karanese. However, as an old enemy of the former Duke of Stohess, the Duchy of Stohess had many defense along its border in preparation for invasion, defenses that were still intact from the Jeagerman's largely internal invasion.

More to the point, while the king had been prepared to counter nomad cavalry, he was shocked not only at the vigor with which the people of Stohess defended their land, but at the pure zeal the Jeagerman brought to bear against them. Eren Jeager's seeming indifference to death in combat seemed to inspire all that followed him, even if it was just with the knowledge that he would die before abandoning them.

In any case, the attempted invasion failed at the border, the King of Karanese retreated in disgrace, the nomads hounds literally nipping at his heels. (The Nomad's war dogs were bred for stamina and speed in order for them to keep up with their owners on horseback.) Duke Jeager's counter-attack was swift and brutal.

To make matters worse, two of the King's own vassals turned on him. The barons of Chanholm, and Drasken renounced their oaths and swore alligence to Duke Jeager instead.

It was no coincidence that those two baronies were also the two that had been hardest hit by giant raiders.

Karanese Castle fell within the month.

As soon as the fighting within the kingdom stopped, Eren Jeager had himself crowed King of Karaness. To everyone's surprise however, instead of retaining the title "Duke of Stohess," he instead passed the title onto Lady Historia, making her the Duchess of Stohess and one of his vassals. As Lady Historia had married Khan Ymir of the horse-nomads, (Coincidentally the same Khan that had carried her off) this strengthened King Jeager's alliance with the nomads and tied them further to his cause.

At his coronation, King Jeager repeated his vow to drive the Giants from the Maria Valley and the Rose Freeholds, he also doubled it with a call for the peoples of those lands to unite in order to once again have peace, prosperity, and security.

It was a good speech, though the new King of Karaness in a show of uncharacteristic modesty, credited it to an adviser and old friend of his, a newly titled Lord Armin Arlert.

That event marks the first time that people started paying attention, no matter how small it was, and asking just who was Armin Arlert.


	3. Chapter 3

When the snows of spring had finally melted, newly crowned King Eren went on the offensive. His first target was the Duchy of Kineshill. Kineshill had been hit hard by the giants during the winter, and provided little in the way of resistance towards King Jeager's advancing army.

Once the Duke had been overthrown, King Jeager gave the vast expanse of Kineshill's largely depopulated pasture lands to his nomad allies for their herds.

After Kineshill, he turned his attention towards the Princedom of Myaskir. Before his armies even started their march, an assassin in the Myaskir's court poisoned the Prince. Immediately his three sons turned on each other, squabbling over which one of them would take on the title of Prince.

Bitterly the three heirs fought each other. Not even as King Jeager took care of them one by one, did they even consider uniting in order to repulse him. The last heir standing didn't even have time to have himself crowed Prince before he too was captured. To add insult to defeat, King Jeager ended up giving the title to Lord Connie Springer, a young Baron generally regarded as a clown and a fool by the Princedom at large.

With that, the great terraced potato fields of Myaskir fell under King Jeager's control. To everyone's surprise however, instead of seizing the overflowing granaries for his own use, he worked with the newly titled Prince Springer to have this surplus delivered to the starving hill tribes as famine relief.

In gratitude, the hill tribes swore over twenty-score of expert archers to King Jeager's cause. With their aid, King Jeager was able to take the Kingdom of Lusin, and with it seized a vital crossing across the river Sina, and put himself within striking range of the Kingdoms of Trost and Kolva, who between themselves control all the mountain passes between the Rose Freeholds and the Maria Valley.

With his intention to drive the giants from the Maria Valley clear, it was no great guess to divine where King Jeager would turn his sights to next.

To everyone's surprise however, the King of Trost made the first move. King Jean Kirstein traveled to Karanese and threw his lot in with King Jeager and his plans to drive out the giants. The new shocked the Freeholds. King Kirstein's personal dislike of Eren Jeager was well known, and King Jeager had returned the feelings with just as much vitriol.

The situation had not been helped by King Kirstein's attempts to court the Lady Mikasa. Which had been spectacularly and unhesitatingly shot down by the Lady herself.

To those in the Court of Trost however, the news was no surprise. The winter had seen the gruesome death of Prince Marco Bott, life-long companion and dear friend to King Kirstein, at the hands of a giant raiding party crossing over one of the passes.

From there, the rest of the Rose Freeholds saw clear enough where the wind was blowing, and either followed the lead of King Kirstien, and threw their lots in with King Jeager, or they were swiftly brought to heel by the combined might of his allies.

By the time spring next came, the Rose Freeholds stood united under King Jeager's banner.

As the winter snows began to clear from the passes, King Jeager's army began to gather in Trost. Troop levies from each of the Freeholds, nomad horse-warriors under the command of their Khans, the Elite Halberdiers of Trost, mountain hunters from the high villages of Kolva, twenty-score expert archers as promised from the hill tribes, and of course the King's own Jeagerman, each ready and eager to spill giant blood.

As the passes slowly began to become passable, King Jeager became more and more restless. He stalked the corners of the castle of Trost, and seemed to become more volatile with each passing day the passes remained closed. At time Lady Ackerman was forced to bodily carry him from the room, in order to prevent him from hiking up the mountains and trying to force open the passes himself.

In the meanwhile Lord Arlert, moved from camp to camp, soothing tempers, calming nerves, and listing. He listened to everything, every drunken cheer and every frustrated grumble. He talked to envoys from the various Freeholds, met with the chieftains of the hill tribes and the Khans of the nomads, promising all of them that their concerns would go straight to King Jeager. When he wasn't in meetings, he was attending King Jeager's private council with Lady Ackerman, and when he wasn't doing either of those things he could often be found seated in a window alcove, writing in a leather-bound black book he always carried on his person.

He claimed it was a book of folk-tales he was writing for children.


	4. Chapter 4

The attack on the Maria Valley was bloody. Even before they had made it over the pass, they encountered a party of giant raids crossing over from the valley. It was a small band, only about three giants. But, those three giants managed to decimate an entire company of Jeagerman, nearly killing King Jeager in the process, before they were taken down.

When the army finally made it over the pass, they found themselves in the former Barony of Hiptwin. Since the fall of Shiganshina, Hiptwin had been hit hard by giants wishing to cross over the mountains into the Rose Freeholds. It's Lord's line was dead to the last child, its nobility had been completely wiped out, and its lands were all but depopulated save for a few bands of woodsfolk who managed to survive thanks to both skill and good fortune.

There it was decided that they would establish a beachhead in the ruins of Hiptwin's devastated capital. That would allow them to secure their supply lines over the mountains, and hopefully prevent any more giant raiding parties from crossing over and attacking the Freeholds while the Army was tied up in the Maria Valley.

Even that cost King Jeager's alliance dearly. The giants, who saw fighting more as an enjoyable pastime than as serious business, were drawn to the large army in the hopes of finding honor, glory, and a good time. Sporadic attacks by the giants cost the army another two whole companies, and the Trost Halberdiers lost so many men they had to be sent back to Trost in order to reinforce their numbers.

To be fair however, no one had embarked on the mission expecting it to be any different.

The giants may have scorned artiface, by choice refusing to use weapons, tool, armor, or even clothes, but they were still formidable opponents. Their size and strength alone rendered them capable of ripping down walls, tearing men in half, and walking faster than most humans could run. Not to mention their thick skins could turn away glancing blows and their innate toughness meant that great effort was required to take them down. Add in their ability to regrow lost limbs and eventually recover from all but the most lethal of wounds, and it was not hard to see why many said that the giants did not use weapons, simply because they didn't need them.

That of course was no comfort to the soldiers facing down the giants on the battlefield. Even with King Jeager's fanatical bravery, and the Jeagerman's zealous response to those they caught trying to desert, it did not stop some soldiers from slipping away into the night, fleeing what they believed to be a fools cause.

In fact the whole outcome of the war was starting to look more and more bleak by the day. Many were beginning to doubt that the combined might of the Rose Freehold would be enough to turn back the giants.

It was then that fortune smiled on them, and they made a singularly unique ally.

\---

A mere week before Shiganshina had fallen, Count Erwin Smith had been enjoying a solitary ride in the woods when he had been kidnapped by bandits. The leader of the bandits, the infamous outlaw Levi, made it perfectly clear that they intended to ransom him to the King of Shiganshina.

However, while the Levi and his gang were waiting for the reply back from the king, the giants swarmed out of the mountains and razed the capitol. All hopes of a ransom went up in smoke along with it.

Levi, predictably, did not react well to the news. He swore violently, cursing the giants both for the ransom they had just cost him and the devastation they were causing to the kingdom.

Erwin wisely did not inform Levi that the King would having gladly paid double whatever Levi had demanded, if it meant he would never have to deal with Count Erwin Smith again. Instead, he offered Levi a deal.

Levi's bandits were all skilled fighters, expert survivalists, and wise in the ways of the wilderness. They were however, just bandits. They were more accustomed to relying on intimidation and reputation to accomplish their goals. In the unlikely event that the giants had heard of their reputation, it was doubtful they would have been the least bit intimidated by it. (Giants were notoriously hard to intimidate, and there were stories of them standing down dragons even bigger then they were.)

What Erwin offered was training. He knew how to turn bandits into skilled warriors, he was an expert in strategy and tactics. If Levi wanted revenge upon the giants, the Count could give him the means to get it.

Levi agreed, and thus the Maria Rangers were born.

So, Erwin began training Levi and his gang in the ways of warfare. As the giants continued their rampage across the valley, the ranger's ranks began to swell with folks eager to drive the giants from their home. They stayed mobile, scavenging materials from the looted towns, and sticking to the dense forests, where most of the giants didn't have the patience to search for them. They struck at the giants wherever it was best. Hitting hard and fast, then vanishing into the forests before the giants could retaliate.

To this end, they received unexpected aid when the wandering mystic and enchanter, Hanji Zoe, joined their ranks. It was her who provided the rangers with enchanted belts, which allowed them to leap over fifteen meters into the air and slash at the giant's necks and eyes with their twin swords. (The eyes and the back of the neck being one of the giant's few weak spots.)

However, in spite of both the battle prowess of Levi, and the brilliant strategies of Count Smith, the Rangers proved to be nothing more than a nuisance to the giants at large. That was until they had heard that the Rose Freeholds had united under some new King and had marched an army over the passes with the intent of driving the giants from the valley.

The rangers all proudly wore their green cloak, bearing the black and white crossed wings of Count Erwin Smith, when the Count first met in a remote forest clearing, the enigmatic Lord Armin Arlert.

\---

It was the Maria Rangers that turned the tide of battle in favor of King Jeager and his allies. Backed up by the soldiers of the Freeholds, the swift horse-warriors of the nomads, and the deadly archers of the hill tribes, the rangers showed their skill as giant slayers. In fact, Levi so impressed the nomad Khans with his prowess, that they presented the rangers with a gift of some of their swiftest horses.

That's not to say the war went any easier. King Jeager's alliance suffered its share of defeats. But the giants were driven back, ruined barony by ruined barony. Until finally, King Jeager stood in the ruins of his former home, the capital of Shiganshina, where it all started. There, the giants were driven from the valley for good.

On the ruins of Shiganshina's capital, King Jeager then declared himself to be High King of both the Maria Valley and the Rose Freeholds. While many of the Freeholds were at first aghast at the idea of a High King ruling over them, King Jeager soon won them over. Those Lords that had either willingly aligned with King Jeager, or had been elevated to their current positions by him, were given lands and titles taken by King Jeager in his conquest of the Freeholds. The scattered remains of the Marian nobility were pacified with rich lands and titles in the Valley whose former holders had been killed by the giants. The nomads were gifted rich pasture lands, and the hill tribes: forests thick with game. Those that remained were quickly cowed into submission by the combined might of the new High King's allies.

As for the giants, most pushed south, seeking refugee with their old allies, the Southern Kingdoms. Some returned to the high mountain peeks, resuming their simply existence. One group however turned up in the lands of Count Dot Pixis, and through him sought audience with King Jeager.

Count Dot Pixis was widely known as an eccentric. While he had defended his lands and people against the giants with fierce determination, he also held a deep respect for them. Of all the lords of the Maria Valley, he was the only person who could speak their language, and who knew their customs and traditions. It was even rumored that his wife was half-giant.

So the Count traveled to Shiganshina and presented the request to the High King. The High King did not take kindly to the news. At first he refused to hear anything they said, and called for the giants to be killed immediately. However, Lord Arlert was quickly able to talk the High King down, and suggested that maybe they should at least hear what the giants had to say before killing them. Surprisingly enough, High King Jeager listened, and set off for the lands of Count Pixis, bringing with him a division of hill tribe archers, and nearly the entire body of the Maria Rangers. (Just in case.)

The leader of the giants was young, yet a full fifteen meters in height, and where other giants had let themselves go to fat with the easy pickings they had found in the Maria Valley, this one was all lean muscle. It's face was terrible, with green eyes the same vivid shade as the High King's, and a lipless mouth lined with straight teeth.

Then to everyone's shock, it presented the High King with the smiling head of it's former chieftain. It then bowed down before him, and swore allegiance to the High King. Calling him the "Ca'oir Dinat."

"What does that mean?" everyone asked Count Pixis.

"Literally translated, it roughly means "Fire that burns old forest, so new forest can grow,"" The Count explained.

While no one present truly grasped the full significance of what the giant had said. When the news reached the Southern Kingdoms that a group of giants had sworn themselves to the new High King, whom they claimed to be the Ca'oir Dinat, the Southern Kingdom immediately threw together a hasty diplomatic mission, and rode out to the Maria valley as fast as their horses could take them.


	5. Chapter 5

That the royal palace of Shiganshina had changed since Annie Leonheart had been there last, but that was to be expected. In the intervening years, the palace had been sacked by giants, looted by said giants, left to rot for a decade, before finally getting some much needed repairs when the new High King declared it to be his new seat of power.

The palace was actually still in the midst of being repaired when the delegation from the Southern Kings rode up. Nevertheless, the High King made them welcome, and in honor of their visit hosted a feast.

The food, at least by the standards of the Southern Kingdoms, was simple, consisting mostly of salted meats, fresh game, cheeses, pickled vegetables, wine, and a noxious dish, supplied by the horse nomads, supposedly made of curdled horse milk.

But for a kingdom that had but a month ago been in the midst of a devastating war with the giants, Annie was just glad they weren't being served up roasted rat and boiled nettles. At least the High King was in good humor, exhilarated by his victory over the giants, and it rubbed off on everyone present. Everyone was in good spirits, laughing and joking, and occasional gawking at the way the envoy from the hill tribes was able to eat more food than a man twice her size.

After the food had been cleared away, the minstrels had been summoned, and everyone made their way to the partially restored ballroom. A few of the windows were still boarded up, and there were still stains on the walls from back when there was no roof on the room, but it was still serviceable.

"Queen Leonheart! It's a pleasure to see you here."

Annie turned to the voice, and was for a moment taken aback at why the speaker looked so familiar. Then it clicked.

"Armin Arlert, its been a long time."

Armin smiled warmly. "I'm surprised you even remember me milady. We were just children when we met."

"Indeed. You've come a long way for a son of a bookseller."

It's probably no the best idea to insult a foreign king's adviser, but if Armin had taken any offense at her jab, he didn't show it. Instead he continued to smile.

"Indeed, High King Eren has been extremely generous. It's by his good grace that I have gotten this far."

"Not bad for the son of a doctor."

That got a reaction, and for a moment Armin's smile looked a little too strained to be real. It was gone as fast as it appeared though and in a flash it was like nothing had happened.

"Queen Leonheart," Armin finally said. "Can I ask a dance from you?"

The minstrels struck up a southern dancing tune, or at least their best imitation of one, and Annie allowed Armin to lead her out onto the dance floor.

As they warmed into the dance Armin leaned close to Annie and began to speak. "You have doubtlessly heard of what ocurred between our High King and the giants who sought out Count Pixis. No doubt that is exactly why you are here."

"Indeed."

"Milady, if I may be so bold as to ask you a few questions? Your people are ancient allies of the giants and doubtless you are far more knowledgeable about their ways then our simple scholars."

"Go on."

"Milady," Armin raised his arms and spun her around. "When the giants came before my lord, they called him the Coordinate."

"Ca'oir Dinat" Annie corrected automatically.

"My apologies. Ca'oir Dinat. Milady, what exactly does that mean? Count Pixis said something about "fire that burns old forest, so that new forest can grow?""

"That's the literal meaning," Annie replied. "The giants have a belief that over time giantkind will become decadent and indulgent and loose their way. When that happen they believe the Ca'oir Dinat will appear and cleanse giantkind, allowing those that survive to restore what the giants should be."

"Like some kind of prophesied messiah?"

"More like an inevitability. Just like the sun rising or winter coming, the giants believe that they will eventually fall and the Ca'oir Dinat will naturally appear to restore them through destruction."

Annie ducked low, allowing Armin to sweep his arm over her head.

"And they think my lord is this Ca'oir Dinat? I'm surprised. The High King has made his intention to bring war and destruction to all the giants plain and clear."

"If anything," Annie answered. "The giants would consider that a point in favor of him being the Ca'oir Dinat."

The music ended, and the dancers parted. Armin bowed to the queen. "Thank you for honoring me with a dance Queen Leonheart," and he then vanished into the crowd.

She watched him leave, then snapped her fingers. Her attendant Mina Caroline appeared at her side.

"Yes Milady?"

"Keep an eye on Lord Arlert, tell me everything he does."

"At once Milady."

\---

The delegation returned to the south having completed their mission and confirmed that the very least, those giants believed High King Jeager to be the Ca'oir Dinat.

The High King spent the rest of the year working to rebuild the Maria Valley and the Rose Freeholds, while at the same time solidifying his hold on the whole empire.

When the Prince of Gladsal, of the Rose Freeholds, rose up in revolt and swore he would die before he bowed to a High King, High King Jeager's response was swift. He didn't call on the other Freeholds, he didn't summon the horse-nomads, or the hill tribes. He sent his giants instead.

Running swiftly across the land, they crossed the mountains, made their way unhindered through Kolva, waded across the river Sina, and raced unchallenged all the way to Gladsal. There, they simply stepped over the walls of the castle and ripped the roof of the main hall.

The Prince of Gladsal was literally carried all the way back to Shiganshina in the mouth of the lead giant, whereupon he was spat out in a steaming mess at the feet of the High King. Whereupon, the High King pronounced exile on him and ordered his lands be divided up between those lords which remained loyal to him. The Prince, thoroughly terrified out of his wits, could go nothing but gibber out thanks to the High King for his mercy.

The news surprised everyone, who all expected that High King Jeager to order the giants to devour the rebellious prince on the spot. Instead his neighbors were satisfied with the expansion of their own holdings, and those that might have otherwise martyred him were so disgusted by his terrified groveling that such a possibility didn't even cross their minds.

By the next year, High King Jeager was solidly in power. While many of the Freehold Lords grumbled to themselves, none were making plans to overthrow the High Kingship. With his crown secure, the High King went on to tour the Southern Kingdoms, presenting himself to the courts of the Kings and Queen of the South. There he secured their recognition of his crown, and formalized diplomatic relations with them, promising to send envoys to their courts.

Everywhere he went, a legion of spies from all over he South recorded his every move. The Maria Valley and the Rose Freeholds may have been regarded as an insignificant backwater by most of the south, but none of the southern monarchs knew what to make of a High King the giants proclaimed to be the Ca'oir Dinat.

In the end however, their spies reported back nothing of significance. The High King for all intents and purposes seemed to be doing his tour for the reasons he had first proclaimed. As far as they could tell, there had been no attempts by the High King to sound out the South for a potential weakness.

Queen Leonheart was the only one who got a different story, but that was because she didn't waste her spies on the High King. Instead Lord Armin Arlert was secret followed his whole time in the south, and what the queen's spies reported back to her disturbed her. Secret meetings with information brokers and the assassin's guilds, quiet visits to cartographer shops, and clandestine liaisons with merchant cartels.

Therefore, she was the only one not surprised when, upon the High King's return to Shiganshina he delivered a speech to the court which condemned the Southern Kingdoms as being compliant in the giant's reign of terror over the Maria Valley and the Rose Freeholds. He cursed them for supporting those giants which fled to their lands, and scorned them for not intervening in stopping the raids on the Valley and the Feeholds. He then praised the united strength of the new empire and proclaimed that with them united, their strength could make even the mightiest of the Southern Kingdoms tremble.

The Kings and Queens of the south saw clearly where the High King was going with his speech, and immediately prepared their armies for invasion.

In the Rose Freeholds and the Maria Valley however, a new train of thought was beginning to emerge among the lords. They were stronger united. The strength of the Southern Kingdoms may be such that, a decade ago attacking them was regarded as a fool's thought, but that was before the High King. Hadn't they just driven an army of giants out of their lands? What were the Southern Kingdoms compared to that? They had their own giants too, sworn to the High King's service. The possibility of conquering the Southern Kingdoms and securing their wealth and prosperity was suddenly more than just a joke.

That night the Duchess Rico Brzenska would stand up and praise the High King's efforts. She would be the first among the Freehold lords to acknowledge the High King as something more than an annoying usurper.

She would not be the last.


	6. Chapter 6

High King Jeager began his campaign against the Southern Kingdoms in the spring of that year. At his word, his armies marched across the border into the lands of King Reiner Braun.

King Braun had long held the borderlands between the Southern Kingdoms and the lands of the north. His capital sat on the conflux, where the River Shigan joined the River Sina, and he was well known and liked by both those of the south and those of the north.

The attacks by the giants on the Maria Valley and the Rose Freeholds had been hard on him. King Braun was well known for his honorable conduct, and the great emphasis he placed on honor.

While the giants rampaged across the north, they never once so much as touched any of King Braun's lands, or harmed anyone flying his flag, out of respect for the ancient alliance between them and the Southern Kingdoms.

Honor demanded that King Braun respect the alliance between his crown and the giants.

But then desperate emissaries came to his court, from kings and princes who were all dear friends of his, pleading for his aid against the giants.

Honor demanded that he move to help his friends, who had dealt with him openly and honorably.

Honor forbade him from turning his sword on his kingdom's old allies, who had honored their alliance in spirit and letter.

So while King Braun opened his borders to every desperate refugee fleeing the north, giving them what shelter and charity he could spare, he never made a single motion to help drive the giants from the Maria Valley.

The King personally mourned every burned hamlet and every lost realm. He sent envoys to the giants, pleading with them to cease their attacks and return to the mountains. The giants ignored him, and the envoys returned to their grieving king.

Many said that the conflicting demands of his honor drove King Braun mad.

But there was no such conflict when High King Jeager marched his armies across the border. His people were under attack, and he was duty bound to defend them. So, he rallied his vassals, called for volunteer militias and prepared his Kingdom for war.

While King Braun may not have been as wealthy as the other southern kings and queens, he was by no means poor, and had been able to field many companies of heavily armored knights in plate-mail, with strong war horses to carry them to battle.

In response, High King Jeager let loose the horse-nomads unto King Brauns lands. The nomads may have been ancient enemies of the Rose Freeholds, and thus every lord there was taught their tactics and strategies as part of their war education. King Braun's realm however, was new to nomad attacks. While the King's heavily armored knights were more than a match for any foot solider of the High King's empire, against the lightly armored horse-warriors of the nomads they found themselves at a disadvantage.

The nomad warriors struck fast and hard, pillaging towns and villages, and then retreating before defensive forces could counterattack. They raided King Braun's supply lines, often forcing his army to march without food or replacement gear. Oftentimes the nomads would charge enemy lines until they got within range of their shortbows, then, to their enemy's confusion, they would suddenly wheel around and retreat, twisting in their saddles to fire behind them into enemy lines. Weighted down by their own armor and the armor of their riders, the knight's warhorses would only be able to pursue the nomads for a short distance before they tired.

Faced with this nebulous enemy, King Braun was forced to spread his army thin in order to protect strategically valuable towns and outposts. All the while, the horse nomads slowly whittled down his army in hit-and-run attacks. Low moral brought on by the disrupted supply lines, and the low food supplies that went with it, caused many of his soldiers to desert.

In fact King Braun lost so many soliders to the horse nomads and desertion alone, that by the time his scouting brought back the reports on the size and composition of King Braun realized that he wouldn't be able to win against High King Jeager in the field.

Many figured that King Braun would march to battle anyway, and die an honorable death fighting in defense of his realm; and he might have done just that, had not a mysterious missive arrive in his tent.

The next day, a nervous and sweating Duke Bertholdt Hoover, King Braun's dearest and most trusted friend, arrived in the camp of High King Jeager, bearing a message from his king.

In it, King Braun was willing to sacrifice his life and lands, and surrender to the will of the High King. But, only on two conditions. The first, that the High King cease the plundering and razing of his land and the killing of his people and leave them to live their lives in peace. The second, that the High King allow his army to dissolve, and his soldiers to return to their homes unmolested.

King Jeager accepted the terms, and the next day King Braun presented himself to the High King to face whatever fate the High King had in mind for him. True to his word, High King Jeager immediately withdrew the horse-nomads from their raids, no doubt promising them richer pickings in the other kingdoms. He allowed King Braun's army to lay down their arms, and return to wherever they called home.

To the shock of everyone, even King Braun, High King Jeager did not immediately have King Braun executed. Instead, he allowed the defeated King to swear fealty to him and retain his title. Of course King Braun and Duke Hoover would both travel with King Eren and his court for the duration of the war, and remained under heavy guard at all times.

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From there, High King Jeager moved south towards the Kingdom of Hashian. Hashian was notorious for the high walls, and many fortifications its paranoid rulers had had build throughout the realm. The kingdom's many fortified cites also maintained massive stockpiles of supplies in preparation for long sieges. The kingdom could literally hold out for decades against a besieging invader.

That was until the High King's army arrived at the first fortified city, and the Maria Rangers literally leaped over the fortifications and onto the walls. There, they threw open the gates, and let the High King's army march right in.

One by one, the fortified cities of Hashian fell. Within a year, its king was dead, and the entire realm was under the control of High King Jeager.

From there, he marched on the Kingdoms of Glackglow and Redport. They fell each in turn. The Queen of Jashuri immediately surrendered when word reached her that the High King's army was massing on her borders. Other kingdoms followed her example, each one terrified at the might High King Jeager seemed to possess, and each one terrified of following the fates of the kings who had resisted him.

But others still fought on. The King of Hirckien nearly succeeded in beating back the High King's armies, before he was assassinated by a hired guild assassin, and his army crumbled in dismay. The Queen of Kracklin threw herself on her blade when it became apparent her armies were defeated, so she would not have to face the shame of being captured by the High King.

Soon, all that remained was the ancient Kingdom of Queen Annie Leonheart.

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It was to this realm that the majority of the fleeing giants had come to, and thanks to the foresight of Queen Leonheart, it was also the realm best prepared for the High King's invasion. As her neighbors fell around her, Queen Leonheart learned from their defeats and readied her armies accordingly.

There was no doubt that the Lone Wolf, as Queen Leonheart was known, would not go down easily.

Indeed, the Queen had hired some of the best mercenary companies in the south to supplement her own forces, and had secured the services of skilled horsemen from the kingdoms beyond the desert.

So when the armies of the High King and Queen Leonheart met on the edge of the old city of Kargadeshan, no one was sure who would ultimately triumph in this war.

King Jeager's giants were restless, the High King having held them back from many battles, intent on saving them for this last enemy. They roared across the battlefield, challenging each other to step forward. Then one did.

From behind the Queen's front lines a large giant stepped forward, one of the last giant chiefs still alive. He roared at the High Kings assembled army. The leader of High King Jeager's giants stepped forward to meet him.

With one blow, he torn that chieftain's head from his shoulders. The strike was so mighty that the head flew through the air all the way to Kargedeshan, where it smashed into the basilica bell-tower, toppling the entire structure.

With a roar, the giants on both sides of the battle charged forward, headless of the cries from both sovereigns to stop. They met in the open ground between the two armies, the High King's giants fighting with savagery and zeal against their own kind, convinced that giantkind's salvation through destruction was at hand.

With no other option, the armies joined the fray.

In the end, the giants made all the difference. While Queen Leonheart may have had more, King Jeager's were driven by fanatical zeal, and more to the point had refused the let themselves become soft with the easy picking they had found in the Maria Valley, each one bearing the gifts of youth and good health.

Queen Leonheart was forced to retreat to the safety of Kargedeshan's walls, which she had ordered lined with iron spikes to impale any Maria Rangers trying to leap over. High King Jeager immediately lay siege, ordering sappers to undermine the walls.

When the walls of Kargedeshan collapsed under their own weight. High King Jeager would himself storm the castle, only to find that Queen Leonheart had already escaped out a secret passage along with her inner circle and generals.

The war ground on. High King Jeager suffered defeats at Jaral's Ford, and Korpal Bridge. A bloody stalemate at the Taskren Forest saw both sides withdraw to lick their wounds. Eventually however, the High King had the Queen trapped in the city of Yaskirk. Once again, Queen Leonheart slipped through his fingers.

This time however, the Queen would not make a clean getaway. For she soon found herself being pursued by Lady Ackerman, and a band of the High King's Jeagerman. The swift pursuit would see the death of the Queen's generals at the hands of Lady Ackerman herself. While the Queen nonetheless escaped to the safety of Draftier, the loss of her generals would severely hurt her war effort. Many likened it to Lady Ackerman cutting the off the Queen's fingers.

Soon, the High King was preparing to siege Draftier, vowing that this time he would capture Queen Leonheart.

That siege would never happen.

A group of Queen Leonhearts vassals, convinced the war was lost for them, betrayed the Queen. At their word, their troops seized Queen Leonheart, and had her presented before the High King in chains, praying that this gift of fealty would buy them a place in the new empire.

It is said that this betrayal by her vassals is what broke Queen Leonheart. Wordlessly, she signed the surrender treaty presented to her, and swore fealty to High King Jeager. She would even agree to bind herself to the High King by marrying Lord Armin Arlert, the King's dear friend and adviser.

With that, the Southern Kingdoms would become the final jewel in the High King's crown, and High King Eren Jeager would finally unite the entire basin of the River Sina under his banner.

Ironically, those lords who betrayed Queen Leonheart would not enjoy the fruits of their treachery for long. Queen Leonheart was well respected in her kingdom, and loved by her people. Many would blame the fall of their kingdom squarely on the shoulders of those lords who betrayed her. Two of those lords would be killed in armed uprising, and their titles and lands given to lords chosen by Queen Leonheart (and approved by the High King.) The rest would either die suspiciously sudden deaths, or would be hauled in front of the High King, accused of treason. Again, their titles and lands would be given to lords loyal to Queen Leonheart (and of course, the High King.)

Queen Leonheart would give birth to two children over the course of her life. The son would inherit the title of King, and go on to rule the kingdom. Their daughter would go on to marry the son and heir of High King Jeager and Lady Ackerman. (A union approved by all involved.)

On the day of their wedding, the people of Queen Leonheart's kingdom, lord and commoner alike, would toast to the new couple's happiness and good health, and praise their Queen's cunning at putting Leonheart blood on the High Throne.

\---

 

_Excerpted from "Three Jewels in His Crown: the Rise of the Jeager Dynasty."_

_High King Eren Jeager has for centuries been regarded as a central figure in our nation's history. As the one who both founded the royal dynasty and who united the scattered kingdoms of the Sina Basin, his role in history has been hard to overlook._

_You can, of course, imagine the excitement when copies of the High King's personal diaries were unearthed from a sealed chest, in a backroom of Kirskmen Monastery. You can also imagine the shock, when these diaries revealed that the High King's rise, and subsequent reign was all orchestrated through the machinations of Lord Armin Arlert. (A man who was previously only known as the father of Queen Caroline Jeager, who married High King Alexander Jeager.)_

_These diaries of course have been subjected to both enormous controversy and enormous scrutiny. While it is likely that their authenticity will always be challenged, the academic community at large has been convinced that these diaries were in fact written by High King Jeager himself._

_If these diaries are to be believed, than Lord Armin Arlert played a much larger role than his place in history previously suggested. By the King's own words, it is Lord Armin's plans and strategies that helped win High King Eren's wars and which lead to him to unite the entire Sina Basin under his banner. Every event, from the forming of the Jeagerman and the seizing of the Dutchy of Stohess, to the invasion of the Southern Kingdoms, were all planned, formulated and directed by Lord Armin Arlert himself._

_By his own words, High King Eren not only knew the full extent of Lord Armin's manipulations, but fully approved of them and was a willing participant. Indeed, the High King fully trusted his friend's intentions and abilities, going along with every scheme with the trust that Lord Arlert knew what he was doing, and it would all work out for the best._

_It is even suggested that Lord Arlert's marriage was done as a way to keep Queen Leonheart in line, and to secure a title and legitimacy for his own children. Ironically enough, the marriage of his daughter to High King Eren's son appears to be one of the few things that were not orchestrated by this shadowy lord, and instead was only the product of the mutual love between both children. (Whether this can be believed is up for debate, but the fact that Queen Caroline and King Alexander both appeared to enjoy a long and happy marriage seems to suggest that.)_

_At the end of the day however, we know little enough about Lord Armin Arlert, a man to whom it appears not only made a High King out of a doctor's son, but who ruled an empire from the shadows, and who played a pivotal role in shaping our nation's future._


End file.
